This has been an active week for Oakland folks!
First, in the small world department, I mentioned in my column last week that new Flowood Mayor Kathy Jackson Smith is an Oakland native. On Monday and Tuesday, I attended the Women’s Summit sponsored by Attorney General Lynn Fitch. The summitt was headquartered in Flowood, and Mayor Smith welcomed us to her city. I immediately tracked her down and told her who I was and my connection to Oakland. We had a lovely visit and got our picture taken together to prove it!
At that same summit, my long-time friend and now executive director of the Mississippi State Bar Association, Deanne Mosley, and I had agreed to sit together for the dinner. When Deanne (who lives in the metro Jackson area) started asking me about specific things I had mentioned in my previous columns, I was so puzzled that she would know these things about Oakland! Her mother, Betty Anne Rutledge Mosley, was born in Charleston, lived in Meridian for many years and now lives in Tennessee, but has continued to subscribe to The Charleston Sun-Sentinel through the years and had shared the Oakland News during their phone visits. Small world, indeed!
Mahaley Hames’ home was the center of activity this past weekend as she hosted the wedding of her granddaughter, Katy Hames, to Andrew Mills. Katy and Andrew are both from Tennessee. Mahaley said the food was wonderful. I know the flowers were, because Mahaley is one of our most talented gardeners.
My sisters were on our front porch and had a lovely visit with James Caruthers, who stopped by for quick visit while he was in town for the wedding. I was so sorry to miss him. James performed the wedding ceremony. He is the uncle of the bride. The Caruthers family attended Oakland Baptist Church, as did we in our formative years and all attended Oakland School with us, so there are many special memories with them. The wedding brought many former Oaklanders back to town as well as friends and family of the bride and groom.
The Oakland Area Chamber of Commerce is excited to welcome three new board of directors members: former Mayor James Riley Swearengen; Bloomin’ Hills Farm & Flowers lead designer, and so much more, John Grayson Henderson; and Oakland Farmacy Marketplace Store Manager Kini Bradford-Jefferson. I will be highlighting these new board members in a later article.
Sunday was my mom’s (Margaret Ross) 93rd birthday. As is our custom, she chose a location for a birthday trip. We have been to Michigan, Kentucky, last year to Hot Springs and this year she chose the Pickwick Lake, Iuka, Corinth area. None of us had spent much “exploring” time in that part of the state, so off we went. We stopped at numerous spots on the way over, including the Jacinto Courthouse, which was a favorite of mine. Being a bit of a politico, I knew it was legendary for political candidates to announce candidacies for political office. I had my picture made on the steps just in case I decide to run for dog catcher or governor or something! I’m ready with the photo!
We spent several days exploring the area and also stopped at numerous places on the way back to Oakland. Mother just raved about how courteous the people in that part of the state were.
My favorite interaction came as we had finished dinner at the Marina in Iuka. Two gentlemen were coming in and offered Mother a hand down the steps. In 90 seconds flat, Mother had them telling their life stories. One of them had been involved in cutting horses and knew several people from our neck of the woods, including Terry Toole and Chappel Sides.
The other called himself a “river rat” and has a boat museum there in Iuka. He lives on a three-story paddlewheel boat and has been up and down most of the rivers in the U.S. It was like this the whole trip, making connections and hearing interesting stories.
In addition, one of Mother’s great-granddaughters had her fourth birthday this week, so they had a giant joint birthday celebration on Sunday with a bouncy house and all the trimmings. Happy birthday to my mom, Margaret Ross, and my great-niece, Mae Whitley Smith. Mae Whitley is getting a baby sister this week, so we’ll have three birthday girls in the same week from now on!
Mayor Stephanie Patterson said to put Oct. 18 on your calendars for Oakland Day and Oct. 25 will be Trunk A Treat. More details in the next few weeks.
Remember to share your news with me at Oaklandareachamber@gmail.com, and thanks in advance!
